Straw-serving machine



April 15, 1930. M s. BARKEY ,7

STRAW SERVING -MACHINE I Filed May 14, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORN EY April 15, 1930. s. BARKEY STRAW SERVING MACHINE Filed May 14, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY WITNESSES fZZMZv/Z aim- 1 April 15, 1930. s. BARKEY 1,755,045

STRAW SERVING MACHINE Filed May 14, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Apr. 15, 1930 Z- .U-NITT:'E'D ESTATES "PATENT IIO'FFICE I SALVATOR BARKEY, OF NEW YORK, N; Y.

sTaAw-snnvme MACHINE Application filed. May 14, 1928. Serial No."277,556.

"The present invention is concerned with "the provision oi a serv ng machine prlmarily "intended for dispensingsoda straws one at i a time, although capable ofhandling various i s types of generallyanalogous articles.

hAny reference to straws :in this application is intended to cover any other generally similarshaped article. While the inveni -tionis concerned with a serving mechanism, E 1t Wlllbfl obvlous that thlsserv ng mechanlsm might form part of a coin controlled vending machine if desired.

"- An object 'of theinvention is to provide a "machine 'of this characterin which a single manners is positively"deliverel at each opera- "tion-in aposition where itmay be convenient ly= manually pickedup.

Another object is to provide a machine so arranged that jamming of articlesin the storzW; age'chamberror feed-"hopper is prevented, yet

5E there isno need to carefully-pack or dispose the articles when loadingthe machine.

A further object. is to provide a machine from which the'release. of an article may be conveniently eflectedby a single simple maniial' operationysuch for instanceas a push or pull on the controlling elementof the server.

Preferably, in order that the service'of articles maybe intrig'uingas well as useful, this man F4330 ual push or pull' tends to storeenergy in an operating spring for theserving mechanism. "When the thrust or pull is discontinued, and the handwithdrawn, the spring acts automatically' to set the dispensing means in mo- 335 tl'OIlBdlClIllOVB an article into exposed deliv- 'ered position.

"The above-feature, whilepreferred, is not essential, andif desired, the serving apparatus may be manually operated and reset by a 5 7140 spring.

Another object of the invention is to provide a machine in which the articles to be served 'aremaintained in a sanitary condition' within a closed storage chamber until suchntime as they reach theirpointot' discharge or delivery. As the straw is served, it may .be. picked up without the receivers fin 'gers coming into' contact with any other straw.

Qtherahdmoregeneral objects of the indepressed.

tion.

Fig; 2is a fragmentary vertical sectional view therethroughntakenapproximately on the line 22 of Fig. 3.

*Flg; 3' is atransverse sectionalview on the Fig. 4 is an enlargedhorizontal sectional detail on the line4-lof Fig. 6.

Fig. 5is a transverse sectional view on the line 55 of Fig.4.

7 Fig. 6 is averticalr sectional view on the line 6-6 of Fig. 3. i i Fig. 7 is a bottomplan View of the machine.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentarybottom plan view of a slightly modified'type of machine.

Fig. 9 is a perspective View of a further modified type of single'iunit machine.

Fig. 10." is avertical: transverse sectional viewon the line 10-10 of Fig. 9 showing the machine in its: normal position and with a recently served: straw resting on the pickup members.

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary view similar to Fig. 10 but showing the position of the par as the serving tray is thrust inwardly to receive a straw and the pick-up members are Figz'l2 is a sectional view on the line 1212 of Fig. 11.

Fig. 13 is a front elevational detail showing in dotted lines, the position assumed 'by the pickup members as the tray is pushed Referring-first to Figures 1w 7" inclusive of the drawings, I have shown a container consisting of end walls 10, side walls 11, a bottom 12 (preferably of sheet metal) and a peaked to J 13. Preferably, the corners of the end wa ls are extended to form feet 14 which elevate the container bottom above atable or other support to provide clearance for mechanism which will be later described. The container is longitudinally subdivided into two compartments by a vertical partition 15 and the top 13 is preferably formed with windows 16 to permit inspection of both compartments. Each compartment with its associated mechanism constitutes a complete and independent dispensing unit. Since these units are identical a description of one will sufiice for both.

Within the compartment is disposed a hop per 17 of tapering cross section which extends the full length of the machine and at its lower end terminates in a restricted chute 18. One hopper wall 19 forms av continuation of the lower wall of the chute, while the other hoper wall is bent at a sharp angle where it Joins the chute. Thus the weight of a stack of straws in the hopper is not transmitted di rectly to the neck of the hopper, but rests for the most part on wall 19 and jamming of straws at the junction of hopper and chute is prevented. The chute is only wide enough to accommodate a single row of straws resting one upon the other, with the lowermost straw of the row disposed in a groove 20 formed in the bottom plate 12 immediately adjacent partition 15.

Immediately under the groove 20 a rod 21 is slidably mounted in bearing brackets 22 depending from plate 12. A coiled expansion spring 23 encircling the rod 21 between brackets acts on a collar 24 on the rod to hold the latter in its extreme left hand position of Fig. 2. In this position a finger 25 projecting upwardly from the end of the rod lies in a pocket- 26 in one end wall 10 of the con tainer out of the path of straws in the chute 18. The grooved portion 20 of the bottom 12 is slotted throughout a portion of its length as at 27 to accommodiate the finger 25 so that i when the rod 21 is pulled to the right (Fig. 2)

the finger will engage the end of the straw in the groove 20 and slide this straw along under those above it, projecting its end outwardly through an aligned opening 28 in the opposite end wall of the container.

This opening may be normally closed by a pivoted gravity closure plate 29 serving the dual function of guarding the opening against dust and frictionally retarding the unduly rapid outward projection of a straw.

Obviously, numerous expedients might be resorted to for pulling rod 21 to serve a straw. For illustrative purposes only I have shown a simple form of mechanism for this purpose which includes a lever 30 pivoted at 31 between its ends on the inner face of the outer wall of the compartment. The upper end of this lever carries a handle extension 32 accessible from the outside of the container and working in an arcuate slot .33 in the container wall. The lower end of the lever 30 is connected by a flexible device 34- running around a pair of pulleys or sprockets 35 to an eye 36 at one end of the rod 21. The pulleys may be mounted under the bottom plate 12 and supported thereby.

It is believed that the operation of the machine may be fully understood from the above description. The straws feed gravitationally down the chute 18. Movement of the lever 30 from the full line to the dotted line position of Fig. 2 will act through chain 34 to pull the rod 21 against its spring and partially pro ject a straw through opening 28 to a point where it may be manually withdrawn. In restoring the serving mechanism to normal position, spring 23 may if desired, be assisted by a spring 37 anchored to the outer compartment wall and acting on the lever 80.

In the modified form of machine shown in Fig. 8, the lever is discarded and the flexible device 5 1 after being led over several pulleys 35 is passed through an opening 38 in the depending end all 10 and attached to a ball handle 39 of greater diameter than the opening so that it limits inward movement of the chain. Here the ball is grasped and pulled to cause a straw to be served and is then retsored to its normal position by spring 23.

It may be noted that the hopper wall 19 is hung on a jogger shaft 1O, the ends of which extend through the ends of the compartment and carry manipulating handles 11 so that the hopper may be jogged or manipulated to agitate the straws therein in the remote contingency of said straws becoming jammed in the hopper neck.

The flanges of the removable cover 13 are notched at 4-2 to accomodate the ends of these shafts so that the cover may be readily rcmoved to load the hoppers.

The form of the invention shown in Figures 9 to 13 inclusive is a single unit machine including a container of generally roctangular form having side walls 4-3. end Wails 44, a removable cover 41 5 and no bottom. This container mounted on feet 4-6 and houses a hopper 17 generally similar to the hopper 17. Here l1OWQV81,tl1G hopper chute 4S terminates at the bottom of front wall 4-3 and the lowermost straw rests on a tray 49 mounted for horizontal sliding movement in rails 50.

Near its forward edge tray 4-9 is grooved at 51 and the tray is normally held in its forwardly projected position of .Fi 10 with the groove exposed by a suitable number of coiled expansion springs 52. These springs encircle rods 53 being confined. between the rear casing wall 13 and brackets 54 depending from the tray 49 and slidably receiving the forward ends of rods 58. An upturned tail piece 55 at the rear edge of the tray limits gle row of straws restingone upon illlGiOtllBI', "and the lower wall of said chute being dissliding movement of the latter in both direcposed in the same plane as one wall of the tions, being engagcable with rear wall 43 as hopper ad acent SELlCl chute, the opposite hopthe tray is thrust back against its spring and per wall defining a sharp angle "withthc engageable with strap rod 56 as the tray is upper wall of the chute, a bottom plate unspring pressed outwardly.

A handle 57 is attached to the forward der said chute, said bottom plate having a groove therein adapted to receive the loweredge of the tray. As the tray is thrust in-mos't'straw of the stack, and a pusher enwardly, groove 51 aligns with chute d8 and receives a straw which is carried out and served upon return spring impelled movement of the tray.

It may be noted that hopper jogger mechanism is also provided here. A cross shaft 58 carries a crank arm 59 capable of being swung against a wear plate 60 on the rear hopper wall to jog the hopper.

andworking in the groove to project said straw endwise through an opening. in one wall :of the container.

2: In a serving machine for soda straws zor analogousarticles, a hopper in which the; U

straws are stored, an inclined chute commu- IIlICELtIIlg with the bottom of the hopper for gravitationally feeding straws from the hop- Preferably, means is provided for engagper to the point of service, said chutebeing ing the ends of the straw and lifting it off the tray so that it may be readily manually grasped. This means has been shown as a pair of pick-up plates 61 normally vertically disposed and accommodated in notches in the tray. These plates are connected with the free edges of and offset from horizontal plates 63, the opposite ends of which are connected to rock shaft 64 borne in sleeves 65 fixed to cross rail 66. At their rear ends shafts 6d carry crank arms 67 adapted to be depressed by cams 68 mounted on the bottom of tray 4:9. Shafts 64: also carry counterbalances 69 for the plates 61, 63.

In operation, as the tray is thrust inwardly, cams 68 depress arms 67 and move the pick-up plates 61 to the dotted line position. of Figure 13 with their upper ends below the plane of the tray. As the tray moves outwardly carrying a straw with it, counterbalances 69 re elevate the pick-up plates causing them to move upwardly through notches 62, and, engaging the ends of the straw, lift it off the tray, the straw at this time being cradled in the notched upper edges 70 of the pick-up plates. In the absence of the pick-up arms, notches 62 would permit a straw o be readily grasped and removed from the groove.

In practice, both of the above described types of serving apparatus will be provided with some means to completely encase and protect the mechanism which is disposed below the bottom of the container. Inasmuch as the provision of such e-ncasing means is an obvious expedient, I have omitted any showing thereof for the sakeof clarity. It will also be evident that the container legs may be omitted if desired.

I claim:

1. In a serving machine for soda straws or analogous articles, a hopper in which the straws are stored, an inclined chute communicating with the bottom of the hopper for gravitationally feeding straws from the hop per to the point of service, said chute being only of sufficient size to accommodate a sinonly of sufficient size to accommodate asingle defining a sharpangle with the upper wall,

ofzthe chute, a bottom .plate under said chute, said bottom plate having groove therein adapted to receive the lowermost straw of the stack, and a pusher engageable with one end of the lowermost straw and working in the groove to project said straw endwise through an opening in one wall of the container, said pusher including a finger working through a slot in the bottom of the groove.

8. In a serving machine for soda straws on analogous articles, a hopper in which the straws are stored, an inclined chute communicating with the bottom of the hopper for gravitationally feeding straws from the hopper to the point of service, said chute being only of sufficient size to accommodate a single row of straws resting one upon the other and the lower wall of said chute being disposed in the same plane as one wall of the hopper adjacent said chute, the opposite hopper wall defining a sharp angle with the upper wall of the chute, a bottom plate under said chute, said bottom plate having a groove therein adapted to receive the lowermost straw of the stack, a pusher engageable with one end of the lowermost straw and working the groove to project said straw endwise through an opening in one wall of the container, said pusher including a finger working through a slot in the bottom of the groove, and a slide rod mounted under the bottom plate and rigidly connected to said pusher.

a. In a serving machine for soda straws or analogous articles, a hopper in which the straws are stored, an inclined chute communicating with the bottom of the hopper for gravitationally feeding straws from the hopper to the point of servlce, a bottom plate under said chute, said bottom plate having a groove therein adapted to receive the lowergagea'ble with one endof the lowermost straw most straw of the stack, and a pusher engageable with one end of the lowermost straw and working in the groove to project said straw endwise through an opening in one wall of. the container, said pusher including a finger working through a slot in the bottom of the groove.

5. In a serving machine for soda straws or analogous articles, a hopper in which the straws are stored, an inclined chute communicating with the bottom of the hopper for gravitationally feeding straws from the hopper to the point of service, a bottom late under said chute, said bottom plate having a groove therein adapted to receive the lowermost straw of the stack, a pusher engageable with one end of the lowermost straw and working in the groove to project said straw endwise through an opening in one wall of the container, said pusher including a finger working through a slot in the bottom of the groove, and a slide rod mounted under the bottom plate and rigidly connected to said pusher.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 8th day of May, A. D. 1928.

SALVATOR BARKEY. 

